Love (Ayumi Hamasaki EP)

Love (stylized as LOVE) is the third mini-album by Japanese recording artist Ayumi Hamasaki. It was released on 8 November 2012 in three editions: CD+DVD, CD-Only and a limited Tales of Xillia 2 Edition.[1]

Love
EP by Ayumi Hamasaki
Released	November 8, 2012 (2012-11-08)
Recorded	2012
Genre	Pop, dance-pop, pop rock
Length	61:53
Label	Avex Trax
Producer	Max Matsuura
Ayumi Hamasaki chronology
A Summer Best (2012) Love (2012) Again (2012)

The EP's track list is formatted similarly to Hamasaki's singles, including remixes and instrumentals, which was different on how she present her mini-albums in the past. Love reached #4 on the Oricon charts, selling 64,841 copies in its first week. It ended up selling 94,347 copies, receiving a gold certification by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for shipments of 100,000 copies.[2]

Information

Love is the first from five consecutive monthly releases from Hamasaki to celebrate her 15th anniversary in the music industry. It has three new songs: "Song 4 U", "Missing" and "Melody" as well as remixes of them and remixes of "You & Me", which was released digitally few months earlier.

The first track on the album, "Song 4 U", was used as the theme song for the 2012 video game Tales of Xillia 2.

At first, Hamasaki included a music video for "Melody" for the track list in the DVD was eventually replaced by a music video for "Missing". "Melody"'s music video will then be included on her 14th studio album, Love Again.

Love is Hamasaki first mini-album not to top the oricon charts, debuting at number 4 with sales of just 64,841. It sold a total of 88,435 in 2012, ending up as the 76th best selling album of the year. Hamasaki had stated that these five releases, including Love, are meant for her fans and not about sales and ranking. Love also charted at 7 at Japan Billboard Top Albums. In Taiwan, it charted at #2 at its debut week and rise to #1 in the following week. Her last number one album in Taiwan was Rock 'n' Roll Circus in 2010.[3]

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Ayumi Hamasaki.

CD

No.	Title	Music	Arranger(s)	Length
1.	"Song 4 U" (original mix)	HINATAspring, Yuta Nakano	Yuta Nakano	3:51
2.	"Missing" (original mix)	Kazuhiro Hara	Yuta Nakano	4:58
3.	"Melody" (original mix)	Yasuhiko Hoshino	Yuta Nakano	5:26
4.	"Song 4 U" (orchestra version)	HINATAspring, Yuta Nakano	Yuta Nakano	4:22
5.	"You & Me" (Remo-con rmx - extended)	Tetsuya Komuro	Remo-con	7:28
6.	"You & Me" (Shinichi Osawa remix)	Tetsuya Komuro	Shinichi Osawa	5:01
7.	"Missing" (Dubscribe remix)	Kazuhiro Hara	Dubscribe	5:07
8.	"Melody" (Broken Haze remix)	Yasuhiko Hoshino	Broken Haze	5:58
9.	"Song 4 U" (instrumental)	HINATAspring, Yuta Nakano	Yuta Nakano	3:50
10.	"Missing" (instrumental)	Kazuhiro Hara	Yuta Nakano	4:57
11.	"Melody" (instrumental)	Yasuhiko Hoshino	Yuta Nakano	5:24
12.	"You & Me" (instrumental)	Tetsuya Komuro	Tasuku	5:39

DVD

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Song 4 U" (video clip)
2.	"Missing" (video clip)
3.	"Song 4 U" (making clip)

Charts and Certifications

Oricon Chart

Chart	Peak position	Debut sales	Total sales
Oricon Daily Chart	3	21,743[4]	94,347
Oricon Weekly Chart	4[5]	64,841
Oricon Monthly Chart	11	86,095
Oricon Yearly Chart	76	88,345

G-Music Chart (Taiwan)

Release	Chart	Peak position	Percentage sales
November 8, 2012	Combo Chart	4	1.82%
	Japanese Chart	1	16.53%

Certifications

Country	Provider	Certification
Japan	RIAJ	Gold[2]

References

2. ゴールド等認定作品一覧　2012年11月 [Works Receiving Certifications List (Gold, etc) (November 2012)] (in Japanese). Recording Industry Association of Japan. December 10, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2020.
4. @hisaka2u (November 7, 2012). "ORICON STYLE編集長のTwitter 2012年11月7日の発言" (Tweet). Retrieved November 13, 2012 – via Twitter.
5. "2012年11月05日～2012年11月11日のCDアルバム週間ランキング（2012年11月19日付）" (in Japanese). Oricon. November 14, 2012. Retrieved November 17, 2012.